


Out of Sight, Still in Mind

by Alisanne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, alas no sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 21:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alisanne/pseuds/Alisanne
Summary: Draco's in an accident, yet still manages to be his usual snarky self.





	Out of Sight, Still in Mind

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings:** Mild angst, no sex (alas). 
> 
> **A/N:** Written for Slythindor100's May prompt# 206: Word list (detailed, tough, marble, zealous, unlock, swanky, punishment, circle, dank, grass, cock, breezy, command, dizzy, voiceless, umbrella, disappear, rainstorm, talk, shrug), for HD_Fluff's May prompt # 135: [Yellow/Orange Flowers](http://hd-fluff.livejournal.com/735530.html), and for Enchanted_Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge # 135: watching the clock. 
> 
> **Beta(s):** None, poke me if you spot anything.
> 
> **Disclaimer:** The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

~

Out of Sight, Still in Mind

~

The Healer who Floos isn’t able give Harry a detailed report, since as soon as he says “Draco Malfoy” and “accident”, Harry cuts him off and tells him he’ll be right through. He arrives in under a minute, after issuing a string of orders to his secretary and second in command that probably leave them dizzy. 

“Where is he?” he demands as soon as he emerges from St Mungo’s arrival Floo. “Where’s Draco Malfoy?”

“Who?” the reception witch asks without looking up, tone breezy.

Harry pulls himself to full height and leans down. “Draco. Malfoy,” he says, tone low and dangerous.

The witch looks up, her eyes widening in recognition. “H…Head Auror Potter,” she stammers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise—”

“Harry!” Hermione, dark circles under her eyes, emerges from a room and waves. “Come on through and we’ll talk.” 

Pushing past the witch, Harry hurries across the marble floors towards Hermione. “What happened? Where is he? Can I see him?” 

Linking their arms, Hermione starts walking him down the hall. “We’re not sure what happened,” she says, tone quiet. “He was brought in unconscious, with no visible wounds we can see. He was found by some other Unspeakables in a field during a rainstorm, lying in a grass circle. Despite the weather, he wasn’t using an Umbrella Charm. No one knows why he was there, or what he was doing, and he can’t tell us, obviously.”

“Fuck,” Harry whispers. “So why isn’t he waking up?” 

“I have no idea.” Hermione sighs, stopping before a door. “He’s in here. His vital signs are stable and as far as we can tell, he should be awake.” She shakes her head. “The only thing I can think is that he’s locked inside his mind somehow.” 

“How do we unlock his mind, then?” Harry asks, fighting to speak past the lump in his throat. 

Hermione shrugs. “Talk to him,” she says. “It could be that hearing your voice will bring him back to himself.” 

Harry stares at her. “Hermione, what if—?”

“No,” she snaps. “We can’t speculate right now.” Her expression softens. “Try and be tough, Harry. You can do this.” 

Exhaling, he nods, and, opening the door, walks in. 

The room is bright, airy, resplendent with marble and granite, and high end wood finishes. But Harry doesn’t notice the swanky surroundings, he only has eyes for the pale, thin form in the bed. 

Draco looks almost translucent in the bed, and Harry has to stare hard to see his chest rising and falling. For a moment, Harry’s throat works and he tries to speak, but he’s voiceless. 

Sinking into the chair beside the bed, Harry clasps Draco hand. It’s cool, clammy, and he sighs. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was just a ploy for attention.” He closes his eyes. “Although honestly, right now I wish you were faking it so I could paddle you in punishment and we could laugh about it later.” 

Resting his head down on the bed, he whispers, “You really do nothing by halves, do you?” 

And in his head, Harry can almost hear Draco replying. ::Of course I don’t. You have _met_ me, yes?:: 

“Yes, you arse.” Harry groans. “And now you’ve got me talking to myself. Brilliant. You’re finally got your wish, you’ve driven me mad.” 

::It wasn’t that long of a trip,:: quips mental Draco. ::Although you should know, this isn’t your imagination. I really am talking to you.::

Gasping, Harry drops Draco’s hand and jumps up. “W…What the hell?” Running a hand through his hair, he says, “Draco, if that really was you talking to me, open your damn eyes right now!” 

When Draco doesn’t move, Harry again sinks onto the chair. “Great,” he muttered. “Now you have me cracking up.” 

Blindly, Harry reached for his hand again, and as soon as he touches it, he hears Draco speaking, ::…back, you arse! Oh, there you are. Why did you disappear?::

“I…I didn’t,” Harry stammers. He tightens his grip on Draco’s hand. “All I did was let go of your hand.” 

::You’re touching me?:: There’s a pause. ::Where am I, Harry? And what the actual fuck is going on?::

“Actually,” Harry says slowly, “we were hoping you could tell us that.” 

::We?:: Draco goes silent again. ::There are other people here?::

“Not at this actual moment, no.” Harry leans forward. “You’re in the hospital. You were found lying in a field during a rainstorm. No one knows what you were doing. What were you doing?” 

::Research. I’m not sure I can say more than that—::

“Draco,” Harry growls. “I’m fucking Head Auror. I feel sure I have sufficient clearance.” 

::I suppose.:: And how Draco manages to convey sulkiness is beyond Harry. ::I was testing one of the new Time Turners we’ve been developing. Anyway, it started to rain and—:: Draco paused. ::That could be it! Apparently water does not interact well with the components. I’m going to have to make adjustments to:—:

“Draco!” Harry snaps. “Focus, please! I get that you’re zealous about your research, but your unconscious body’s lying here in front of me in the hospital, so perhaps we could solve that problem first? Now where do you think you are?” 

::Someplace dank and dark since I can’t see,:: says Draco after another pause. ::I smell mold, moisture. It smells like…do you know what petrichor is?::

“For fuck’s sake, Draco!” Harry shouts. “If you don’t stop making shit up—”

“Harry, what on earth are you doing?” cries Hermione, bursting in. “I could hear you clear down the hallway! Shouting curses at him isn’t going to bring him back.” 

Harry looked at her over this shoulder. “I’m shouting at him because he’s using posh words—”

::That’s not a posh word! It’s not my fault you have an abysmal vocabulary.::

“My vocabulary isn’t abysmal, you arse,” Harry groans, turning back to look down at Draco. “Keep that up and I won’t go searching for you!” 

::You will if you ever want to touch my cock again.::

Hermione’s mouth drops open. “Are you saying he’s speaking to you?” 

“Yes.” 

Hermione raises an eyebrow. “And you’re sure it’s him and not your, um—?” 

“Trust me, it’s not my imagination.” Harry rolls his eyes. “It’s definitely him.”

Hermione frowns. “But how?”

“I dunno.” Harry shakes his head. “I just know he’s somehow in there, Hermione! You need to be touching him to communicate, though.” 

“All right.” Coming around to the other side of the bed, she picks up Draco’s hand. “Draco?” she says tentatively. 

::Hello, Granger.::

Hermione gasps, dropping his hand. “Dear me!” 

“He can only hear you if you’re touching him,” Harry says. 

“Yes, all right.” Gingerly, Hermione reaches for Draco’s hand again. “Draco, what happened to you?” 

::As I told Harry, I was doing some research and I think the rain interacted unfavourably with my equipment. There was a flash and then I probably lost consciousness, and when I woke, Harry was talking to me.::

“So you have no idea where you are?” Hermione asks. 

::Somewhere wet.::

“You said something about a moldy smell? What was that posh word you used?” Harry says. 

“Petrichor,” Hermione murmurs. 

Harry rolls his eyes. “Of course you would know it.” 

::Well she has read a book or two,:: snarks Draco. 

Glaring down at him, Harry makes a rude gesture with his free hand. 

When Hermione chuckles, however, Draco snaps, ::I know you’re doing something, Potter.::

Harry smirks. “Why don’t you open your eyes and stop me, then?” 

::Remember what I said about my cock earlier? Well, keep this up and not only will you never touch it again but you’ll never get to feel it in your—::

“Right,” says Hermione, dropping Draco’s hand like it’s a hot potato. “Tell Draco to see what else he can discover about where he thinks he is, and I’ll, erm, go check on some potions.” 

“You truly are an arse,” Harry sighed once Hermione was gone. 

::I’m _your_ arse.::

“Point.” Settling back into the chair, Harry clings to Draco’s hand. “Right, I guess I’d better settle in for the duration.”

::Are you going to tell me a bedtime story?::

“Do you want me to?” 

::Yes. As long as it’s got sex.::

“Not a chance,” Harry murmurs. “Can you imagine what would happen if anyone walked in in the middle of that?” 

::Well, what do you suggest?:: And underlying the question, Harry can hear the worry. 

Tightening his grip in Draco’s hand, Harry sighs. “We’ll find you. Don’t you worry about that.” 

::You’d better or else I swear I’ll haunt you.::

Leaning down, Harry rests his forehead again their joined hands. “I know you will.” And because he knows Draco’s worried, and he is, too, he starts to talk as a distraction. At first it’s random Ministry gossip he can share, which he knows Draco loves, but soon they delve into more serious topics. 

::If I don’t get out of this, you have to take care of Mother,:: Draco finally says. ::Don’t let her devote all her time to that garden of hers. Colour coordinated gardens are all well and good, but she needs to be social. See that she keeps busy doing other things.::

“Don’t talk like that,” Harry says. “Of course you’re getting out of this. You’re too stubborn not to.” As he talks he watches the clock, willing Hermione to return and tell them she knows how to fix this. 

When she does return, however, it’s with a cup of black coffee and no news. After she hands the cup to Harry, she picks up Draco’s hand once more. “We’re no closer to finding you, I’m afraid. We just have no idea where your mind could be. Do you have any other clues you can share?” 

::Have you tried the Time Turner?::

Hermione sighs. “They didn’t find anything with you, Draco. Just you.” 

::Have you checked my pockets?::

“No.” Still retaining his hand in hers, she checks his pockets. “Nothing,” she says. 

“I could go and investigate the location,” Harry says. “Where was it? And what do your the new Time Turners look like?” 

::If you don’t come back to me, Potter—::

“Of course I’m coming back, Draco. Don’t be ridiculous.” 

Finally, Draco gives him Apparation coordinates, which is how he finds himself in the centre of a field overgrown with yellow flowers, poking through the grass and underbrush looking for a Time Turner. 

“And of course you couldn’t make it out of metal, oh no, it has to be glass,” he grumbles as he searches. “Because that’s not difficult to spot on the ground at all.” 

It’s pure chance that allows him to find a shard of glass glinting in the sun. Picking it up, he Apparates back to St Mungo’s to find Hermione waiting. 

And as soon as she walks into the room carrying the shard, Draco twitches. 

“Hermione!” Harry cries. “He moved!” 

“I saw.” Humming, Hermione places the glass shard in Draco’s hand. 

Immediately, Draco opens his eyes. “Salazar,” he says. “That’s better.” He smirks at Harry. “My hero. You’ve saved me again. However shall I thank you?” 

Harry takes a step towards Draco before Hermione clearing her throat reminds him they’re not alone. 

Draco licks his lips, never taking his eyes off Harry’s face. “I’m free to go, right, Granger?”

“I’ll go and…get your discharge parchment work ready,” she says. “Although I would like you to stay overnight for observation, Draco.” 

Draco’s smirk widens. “Just give us a head’s up before barging in in the morning, all right? Harry and I will be getting…reacquainted.” 

Hermione raises an eyebrow. “Need I remind you that you’re in a hospital with ill people around?”

“Not at all.” Draco hums. “I’m sure Harry promises to keep the screaming and moaning to a minimum.” 

Hermione sighs. “Harry, do you promise to watch him closely tonight?” 

Harry grins. “Promise.” 

“Fine, take him home,” Hermione says, tone dry. “I’ll Floo the parchment work to you later.”

“Lovely!” Draco stands, grabbing Harrys hand. “Later, Granger.” 

As Draco drags him from the room, Harry whispers, “What’s your hurry?” 

Draco smirks at him. “While I was alone in the dark, I had time to think about what I would miss the most if I couldn’t make it back. Sex with you was high on the list.” 

Touched, Harry pulls him to a stop, kissing him. “It’s always high on mine,” he murmurs against Draco’s mouth. 

“Didn’t you two say you were going home?” Hermione asks, pushing past them. 

Draco laughs. “You heard the Healer, Harry. Take me home.”

Harry exhales. “Gladly.” 

~


End file.
